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$1000/day is $125/hour, which is a standard hourly rate for software developers. I would expect authorhood/extreme-subject-matter-expert to yield at least a 2x

$1000/day is $125/hour, which is a standard hourly rate for software developers. I would expect authorhood/extreme-subject-matter-expert to yield at least a 2x premium.

commandlinefan 8y ago
> a standard hourly rate for software developers Maybe in SF or NYC, but even then I don't think $125/hr or $260K/year at 40 hours/week is "standard" even there.
- frenchie4111 8y ago
  This yearly rate calculation assumes you spend 100% of your working hours on-contract, which is definitely not the case.
- deong 8y ago
  $125 an hour isn't crazy. I billed that doing some consulting for a company in Memphis maybe five years ago, and that was a no negotiation involved arrangement. I'd worked there before, so they knew me. I threw a number out there and they pretty much went, "alright, sounds reasonable enough".
- jurassic 8y ago
  I know of at least one consulting shop that bills corporate clients $250/hr for mostly general software development in SF. The employees only see about ~1/3 of that amount. As a bonafide expert with a significant addressable market (expertise isn’t valuable unless you’re solving problems people have) and a knack for self promotion, it wouldn’t surprise me to hear $500/hr in SF/NY. It really depends on who your clients are and what kind of track record you’ve got to point to.
  - pc86 8y ago
    Not to mention it matters where the money's coming from. If you just closed a $40M round of VC financing, $500/hr for a 1-week project ($20k?) from someone you know isn't crazy. If you're a bootstrapped company and that's 6 weeks of revenue it's not as easy of a decision even if you think the ROI is there.
- pc86 8y ago
  $125 is pretty much the de facto rate regardless of location (give or take a small percentage). But you're missing several points in the equation that make that rate much much less than $260k/yr. 1. You're not differentiating between the rate that's charged and the rate that's paid to employees. I am billed out at $185/hr. I make a small fraction of that as an employee, even after benefits. 2. You're not including any time off - you're figuring 40.0 hours for 52 weeks straight which is ridiculous. US employees are much more likely to be 48-50 weeks. Europeans are at what, 20 weeks a year or something now? (I jest) 3. For consultants (who are not employees), if you want to bill 40.0 hours you're going to be working 60-70 when including all the marketing and admin work, or you're outsourcing that which eats into your base rate considerably. 4. When I was consulting a big reason why was freedom and time off. I billed $125/hr but made probably $50k/yr because I only worked 25-30 hours a week all in. That included all my marketing, proposals, billing, chasing invoices, and actual billed work. It was great seeing a direct financial impact to the amount of work I did, but also sucked because if you have no motivation for more than a few days that impacts you financially for weeks.

$1000/day is $125/hour, which is a standard hourly rate for software developers. I would expect authorhood/extreme-subject-matter-expert to yield at least a 2x premium.

commandlinefan 8y ago

> a standard hourly rate for software developers Maybe in SF or NYC, but even then I don't think $125/hr or $260K/year at 40 hours/week is "standard" even there.

frenchie4111 8y ago
This yearly rate calculation assumes you spend 100% of your working hours on-contract, which is definitely not the case.
deong 8y ago
$125 an hour isn't crazy. I billed that doing some consulting for a company in Memphis maybe five years ago, and that was a no negotiation involved arrangement. I'd worked there before, so they knew me. I threw a number out there and they pretty much went, "alright, sounds reasonable enough".
jurassic 8y ago
I know of at least one consulting shop that bills corporate clients $250/hr for mostly general software development in SF. The employees only see about ~1/3 of that amount. As a bonafide expert with a significant addressable market (expertise isn’t valuable unless you’re solving problems people have) and a knack for self promotion, it wouldn’t surprise me to hear $500/hr in SF/NY. It really depends on who your clients are and what kind of track record you’ve got to point to.
- pc86 8y ago
  Not to mention it matters where the money's coming from. If you just closed a $40M round of VC financing, $500/hr for a 1-week project ($20k?) from someone you know isn't crazy. If you're a bootstrapped company and that's 6 weeks of revenue it's not as easy of a decision even if you think the ROI is there.
pc86 8y ago
$125 is pretty much the de facto rate regardless of location (give or take a small percentage). But you're missing several points in the equation that make that rate much much less than $260k/yr. 1. You're not differentiating between the rate that's charged and the rate that's paid to employees. I am billed out at $185/hr. I make a small fraction of that as an employee, even after benefits. 2. You're not including any time off - you're figuring 40.0 hours for 52 weeks straight which is ridiculous. US employees are much more likely to be 48-50 weeks. Europeans are at what, 20 weeks a year or something now? (I jest) 3. For consultants (who are not employees), if you want to bill 40.0 hours you're going to be working 60-70 when including all the marketing and admin work, or you're outsourcing that which eats into your base rate considerably. 4. When I was consulting a big reason why was freedom and time off. I billed $125/hr but made probably $50k/yr because I only worked 25-30 hours a week all in. That included all my marketing, proposals, billing, chasing invoices, and actual billed work. It was great seeing a direct financial impact to the amount of work I did, but also sucked because if you have no motivation for more than a few days that impacts you financially for weeks.